20 Minute Air Fryer Chicken Fajitas - The Recipe Critic (2024)

FAQs

How do you cook fajita meat so it's not tough? ›

Steak for fajitas should be cooked to rare or medium-rare for the best texture and flavor. 3. Slice thinly, against the grain. Cutting meat against the grain into thin strips shortens the muscle fibers, reducing the amount of work you have to do to chew them, and making even tough cuts taste tender.

Fajitas start with the meat: You'll need 1/4 pound of boneless, skinless chicken breast, chicken cutlets or skirt steak for each person. If you're using chicken breasts, pound them until they're about 1/2 inch thick; if you're using skirt steak, cut each steak in half so that it fits easily in your skillet.

Slicing will save you cook time.

When it comes to skillet fajitas, you want to cook everything hot and fast. You can avoid overcooking and drying out the chicken by slicing the peppers, onions, and chicken into 1/4-inch strips.

Our preferred way of making this easy steak fajitas recipe is to saute the fajita veggies in a cast iron skillet on the stovetop until they are tender but never mushy. Meanwhile, we typically like to grill the meat, then combine the two.

Citrus: orange juice and lime juice tenderize the steak by breaking down the tough connective tissue. They also infuse the meat with bright floral tones characteristic of steak fajitas that complement the earthy seasonings.

Fajitas for how many people? Six to eight ounces per person, raw weight, would be a pretty nice portion. Once you include sautéed onions and peppers into the mix, everyone could easily make three to four big fajitas. Three to four big fajitas is plenty of food.

I like to always say it's about one pound per three people...but let's be honest, I can almost eat a whole pound by myself lol.

I cook fajitas for my work (about 30 people) and I try to do 1/2 pound per person. I also do half pound per person. I do one pound of beans per eight people. Beans are cheap, so you can always throw in an extra pound to be safe.

Steak Fajitas: While skirt steak is the traditional cut of meat used in fajitas, other cuts of steak can also be used, such as flank steak or sirloin steak. The steak is marinated in a mixture of lime juice, garlic, and spices, then grilled with onions and peppers.

Do fajitas need onions? ›

What makes a fajita a fajita? A traditional fajita filling is made up of onions, bell peppers and protein, all cooked in that distinctive sweet and savoury seasoning and topped with your choice of dressings.

Skirt steak is the traditional cut used for fajitas. It used to be inexpensive, but now it's not so cheap; oftentimes flank steak costs less. Either will be a good choice.

Skirt steak is thin and lean, so going past medium-rare or medium doneness will yield an extremely dry and chewy steak. Cook it hot! Cook it fast with high heat, instead of low heat for slow cooking. There is not much connective tissue in skirt steak.

The first is to submerge meat in cooking oil (sunflower or olive oil) before you start cooking. The oil is absorbed and softens the meat. The second method is to add some vinegar while you're cooking and the vinegar will begin to tenderise the meat.

Pound it out. Pounding softens and tenderizes meat, making it easier to cut and eat. One of the easiest — and cleanest — ways to do this is to sandwich the meat between a couple pieces of plastic wrap or wax paper and pound it before cooking.

Simmering in a little bit of liquid or broth is a great way to tenderize. Acidity can also be your friend here. A little bit of vinegar and lemon juice in the liquid can help you tenderize the meat.